The little things that win games

[Yeah Baby]

After the Michigan win coach Knight was interviewed and said "Derek will be the first to tell you that his success same from the screens by Cliff and the hard cuts to the basket by Mag opening up lanes for him."

Just saw on IG the last bucket by J Will againsf MD in a loop and guess what? His lane was created by the hard cut by Simpson. In fact, since he shot with 0.1 left on the clock it is clear that the play was meant for Derek to go to the hole but MD doubles him so passed I think to J Mike (can't see him on screen) who passed to J Will. Derek makes a hard cut through taking his defender with him and the initial defender who doubled is now out on J Mike leaving a huge driving lane for J Will. Those are the little things on Offense.

Our defense does so many little things to shut teams down too. It's really fun to watch. Hoping for more tomorrow and the rest of the season. Great TEAM wins on the road. No one player does it all. But adding one really good player certainly has helped this team so far.

 

[ScarletDave]

Was going to make a similar post to this. Simpson’s defense doesnt show up on the stat sheet. His pressure defense causes so many unforced turnovers by the other team - feels like every game now we get a backcourt violation or 10 second call, travels etc passes thrown out of bounds, Derrick causes a lot of that when he’s in and at the front of the defense.

 

[Yeah Baby]

Not just him though. J Mike is a nuisance and J Will has long arms and plays great angles. Cliff protects the rim like no other and Mag is insane on D. It's a nice combo Defensively with those 5 out there. Not quite the level as Caleb, Mag, Cliff, Cam and Paul combo but really really good.

 

[G- RUnit]

Was going to make a similar post to this. Simpson’s defense doesnt show up on the stat sheet. His pressure defense causes so many unforced turnovers by the other team - feels like every game now we get a backcourt violation or 10 second call, travels etc passes thrown out of bounds, Derrick causes a lot of that when he’s in and at the front of the defense.

But other posters see the game better! SMH.

 

[Scangg]

Simpson had a nice effort winning play when he missed badly or airballed and instead of sulking about it, he immediately pressured and forced an errant pass out of bounds for a turnover

 

[Scarlet Shack]

I love this post…there have been times where I have seen half assed screens set and thsr really gives the offense less of a chance Both cod and against us

 

[Scarlet83]

After the Michigan win coach Knight was interviewed and said "Derek will be the first to tell you that his success same from the screens by Cliff and the hard cuts to the basket by Mag opening up lanes for him."

Just saw on IG the last bucket by J Will againsf MD in a loop and guess what? His lane was created by the hard cut by Simpson. In fact, since he shot with 0.1 left on the clock it is clear that the play was meant for Derek to go to the hole but MD doubles him so passed I think to J Mike (can't see him on screen) who passed to J Will. Derek makes a hard cut through taking his defender with him and the initial defender who doubled is now out on J Mike leaving a huge driving lane for J Will. Those are the little things on Offense.

Our defense does so many little things to shut teams down too. It's really fun to watch. Hoping for more tomorrow and the rest of the season. Great TEAM wins on the road. No one player does it all. But adding one really good player certainly has helped this team so far.

Excellent post. Really good!

Just like a lot of things in life, there are numerous nuances and not easy to see factors in our successes and failures. Other people’s work and talent play important roles in our achievement. I love how sports highlight so many life lessons.

 

[Scarlet83]

Not just him though. J Mike is a nuisance and J Will has long arms and plays great angles. Cliff protects the rim like no other and Mag is insane on D. It's a nice combo Defensively with those 5 out there. Not quite the level as Caleb, Mag, Cliff, Cam and Paul combo but really really good.

If we are talking strictly defense, this team with J Will added is the best R Hoops defense I have seen in a long time. But last year’s team was elite also.

 

[zappaa]

If we are talking strictly defense, this team with J Will added is the best R Hoops defense I have seen in a long time. But last year’s team was elite also.

Rebounding can be problematic at times.
Very frustrating at times to work so hard denying quality looks and get that shot clock re-set

 

[fg7321]

What you do when you don't have the ball is key to a winning offense and spreads out the defense.

 

[Scarlet83]

Rebounding can be problematic at times.
Very frustrating at times to work so hard denying quality looks and get that shot clock re-set

At times, yes. Early in the season, absolutely. But I am talking about our current team. I know it’s only two games, but total of the last two games, both away, we were +7 REB (+8 Mich, -1 MD). So with JWill, we are improved, as he is a good rebounder for a guard.

J Will, J Mike, Derek, Mag and Cliff.

Going forward, with those 5 getting 28+ minutes, our D is elite and I hope it continues that way. And it looks like J Will is good at transition offense off turnovers, long REB on D. Fingers crossed.

 

[Yeah Baby]

Well Hyatt has been one of our best rebounders and I should include him in this discussion. He has really improved his perimeter D this year and he always played bigger than his actual height. He was +17 in the Michigan game so absolutely belongs in this discussion. My bad.

I think after PSU the staff decided to go with a smaller quicker lineup against Michigan which was the right thing to do. It worked so we will likely stick with it. But Hyatt will get his minutes and for two years has said and done whatever the coach asks of him. Gotta love this kid.

 

[Yeah Baby]

Rebounding can be problematic at times.
Very frustrating at times to work so hard denying quality looks and get that shot clock re-set

Agreed. No names but there have been times players become spectators instead of boxing out and they have seen the bench as a result. Early in the season I had another thread about the 50/50 balls and we were not getting our fair share in many games. That also has improved including the spectators i mentioned above. Our guards have always rebounded well and we are getting back to that. Boxing out is another little thing we need to do to win.

 

[MadRU]

Love high basketball IQ plays.

 

[mildone]

Really good thread.

There is so much more to team sports than what is happening with the ball. But most posts only ever discuss the player(s) on or near the ball. Which is missing 4/5ths of the game in BB, 10/11ths in FB and soccer, and so on.

Coach Knight pointing out critically important off-ball play is illuminating. Love it.

 

[RUBigFrank]

Good intelligent post.

 

[Scangg]

I love this post…there have been times where I have seen half assed screens set and thsr really gives the offense less of a chance Both cod and against us

100%

We run some sets but a lot of times the screens, cuts, motion looks like they are moving at the intensity of a pre game walk through

 

[RUby RED]

If we are talking strictly defense, this team with J Will added is the best R Hoops defense I have seen in a long time. But last year’s team was elite also.

This. Not sure the guards play the passing lanes as well as last year’s group, but the on-ball pressure defense is a notch or two better

Simpson / Davis / J Will / Mag / Cliff is a special pairing defensively

 

[MadRU]

A good thing today was Derek Simpson. His shot wasn’t on today so he didn’t force things and try to do too much. Only took 6 shots, got assists and played defense. He differed to JWill and Noah today. Lesson taught lesson learned. Great to see a young player get an understanding that there is more to the game than getting mine.

 

[scarletpumpernickl]

Another "little thing" is grabbing loose balls. Early in the season it seemed many times our opponent grabbed the ball while our player waited for the ball to come to him. JWill has great reactions to get his hands on loose balls. Also, is this the second time we've seen him dive on the floor? His hustle is contagious making his teammates better.

 

[Yeah Baby]

A good thing today was Derek Simpson. His shot wasn’t on today so he didn’t force things and try to do too much. Only took 6 shots, got assists and played defense. He differed to JWill and Noah today. Lesson taught lesson learned. Great to see a young player get an understanding that there is more to the game than getting mine.

Derek started the game with 2 early steals. He took 2 deep 3's because he got the ball with 3 second left on the shot clock. He had one drive where he was fouled but no call. The 1-6 looks bad to those who don't know the game but he played 31 minutes for a reason.

J Will didn't look to score early. He was setting Cliff up and that combo left us with wide open 3's. Ball movement was good. Players were driving and kicking rather than passing around the outside and forcing it in to Cliff in bad position. J Will is more than I could have hoped for and everyone is playing better as a result.